'Lad Banter', Assault & Rape Culture At University

[trigger warning: sexual assault & rape]

September is here and millions of students will be either starting or returning back to Universities around the world. Whilst this should be an exciting time of year to make new friends, start afresh and knuckle down to that degree, one issue hangs over the head of many self-identifying women during the first few weeks of term.

A report from the National Union of Students back in 2014 highlighted the ongoing problem at UK Universities with female students experiencing incidents of sexual assault, rape and the sexist behaviour - all of which are commonly associated with with the idea of 'lad culture' and 'banter'.

Some of the results are as follows:

• A quarter of students have experienced unwelcome sexual advances. Women are significantly more likely than men to say they have experienced it.
• Almost one third have had overtly sexual conversations directed at them which make them uncomfortable
• More than a quarter endure unwanted sexual comments about their body
• The same amount have suffered unwelcome sexual advances inappropriate touching and groping
• Two thirds say that they have seen fellow students experience, sexual comments and overtly sexual conversations
• Just under one third (30%) cite verbal harassment
• Almost two thirds said they heard rape /sexual assault jokes on campuses
• Three quarters of students are aware of online communities such as ‘unilad’ and ‘lads bible’, with over half agreeing that these contribute towards an unfair representation of women
• More than one third of respondents were aware of promotional materials around university that have sexualised images of women, with over two in five individuals agreeing that the images make them feel uncomfortable
• Over half believe that women students are more vulnerable than men students

What saddens me most about these results is that they're are:

1. not surprising in the slightest; and
2. the attitudes haven't changed in the (almost) 5 years since I was a Fresher. 

The idea behind Lad culture and banter seems to follow the 'pack' mentality similar to that of Fraternities in America where drinking, swearing and sex seem to be a common theme for bonding. Whilst I have no right to judge these activities and the people that engage in them, what has innocently started as a descriptor for 'boisterous' boys in athletics clubs and societies, banter has become an umbrella term for a whole host of unacceptable sexist, homophobic, racist, and misogynistic behaviour. The true problem though is the fact that such behaviour is tolerated under the premise of 'boy will be boys'.

My own personal experience definitely mirrors this and I remember nights out at University in clubs and bars spent wrestling myself away from unwanted male attention and shoving guys away from my vulnerable friends. What is so wrong is that this type of behaviour felt normal. As a female fresher, I had been pre-warned that this kind of stuff might happen, that I would need to make sure I was fairly sober if my friends weren't, or that I needed to watch my drink, or tolerate the sexist comments made by the guys on my course towards women. Looking back this lasse-fair attitude towards 'the bantz' is so wrong and I'm angry at myself for brushing off such vile behaviour.

What's may have changed now is visibility. Arguably more cases are being reported as awareness of the problem spreads. But what is being done to stop this behaviour happening in the first place? Well, not much, but there are baby steps.

With the problems highlighted in the NUS survey, the UK Government is now getting more involved, ordering an inquiry into sexist culture at Universities and proposing police should be involved in cases of assault and rape. The suggestions make total sense and I wonder whether this so-called crack down is encouraging but does it come too late once 'lads' hit Fresher's Week? Surely by that point the 'banter' is ingrained?

The inquiry coupled with the survey results only show how far we, sadly, still have to go to protect young women from sexual assault and rape. Similar crackdowns in in the US with Fraternity culture remind us that this is not just confined to the UK or is a University-only problem. A societal shift is still needed in the way we handle 'lad culture'.

In terms of shifting this view the first step is always the hardest - calling out behaviour when it happens perhaps as early secondary school and College. By opening up a conversation before it hits the University halls and making this kind of behaviour to socially unacceptable to people is obviously an ideal start but that takes time.

Right now the best route is to keep talking about this topic. Vocalising concerns is the only way attitudes change. We have to keep shouting above the noise until that noise finally turns into action.